Key Insights
- Michael Kitces speaks to both sides of the solo versus team debate from direct experience—as a leader at one of the largest mega RIAs and as co-founder of a network built for solo advisors.
- Solo advisors have never been more profitable, according to Kitces' own benchmarking research.
- Technology has replaced what once required a full support staff, making the solo model more viable than ever.
- The "you can't survive without scale" message often says more about the messenger than the market.
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Michael Kitces sits at both ends of the solo versus team debate simultaneously. As Head of Planning Strategy at Focus Partners Wealth, he works inside one of the largest mega RIAs in the country. As co-founder of XY Planning Network, he helps solo advisors launch practices from scratch. Few people are positioned to see both sides.
The conventional wisdom says you need scale to survive. His benchmarking research tells a different story.
"When I actually look at the benchmarking studies and the research that we do, the hard dollar reality is it has literally never been more profitable and easy to be a solo advisor." — Michael Kitces
Kitces is quick to point out that solo and team aren't competing answers. They reflect genuine differences in how people want to work. Some advisors thrive in structured environments where the infrastructure is built for them and they can focus entirely on clients. Others want autonomy and control over how they serve their clients and build their business.
Technology is a big part of why the solo model works today. What once required a full support staff can now be replaced with a handful of affordable tools.
"It used to be something you needed a bunch of staff for. And now, I just buy like a bunch of $49 apps, and I can run ludicrously profitably as a pure solo advisor." — Michael Kitces
What Kitces pushes back on is the narrative that solo advisors can't survive without scale, and specifically where that message is coming from.
"There is a little bit of talk your book from the mega firm perspective that you cannot survive without large firm capabilities and scale, which is basically a nice way of saying you're going to die without us, so you may as well sell yourself to us, which is great because we have a lot of PE [private equity] money and we'd like to buy you. And I think there is some of that dialog happening because they're trying to convince people that they can't survive on their own because they want to acquire them." — Michael Kitces
Key Takeaway
Solo advisors have never been more profitable. And while Kitces sees genuine value in both solo and team models, advisors making structural decisions about their practice deserve to weigh the "scale or die" message against who's delivering it.
Watch the Podcast Episode
This article draws from our Exceptional Advisor podcast conversation with Michael Kitces, Head of Planning Strategy at Focus Partners Wealth and co-founder of XY Planning Network. In the episode, Michael discusses the structural evolution of the advice profession, the full range of options available to advisors building practices today, and why he remains bullish on the profession despite the pressure of advancing technology.
Watch the full episode.
